Better Than Imagined
by jellybean96
Summary: It's Grant's birthday and he's thinking he much prefers this life over anything else.


**Happy Birthday Grant Ward!**

 **Hey babes, back with a new one for ya in honor of Grant Douglas Ward's birthday today. This man deserved so much better than what happened to him on the show, so I came up with a little fic that takes place within the Max!Verse my friend and I created.**

 **It's rare that I can write stories so quickly, I wrote this in a single day, but I guess I was just mad inspired by this wonderful day. :)**

 **Enjoy!**

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"Happy birthday, daddy!"

Skye lets out a small, quiet laugh as she watches her kids bombard their father, climbing up onto the bed and jumping on him knees first. Repeatedly.

"Okay, okay," she speaks up, stepping into the room. "Don't break your dad, please." She reaches down and lifts her son off Grant, and holding him sideways against her, one arm around his back and the other around his legs. "Why do you have to be so rough with your dad, Adian, huh?" she questions, tickling his sides.

"Mommy! Stop!" Adian giggles, wiggling in her arms.

"Kisses first." She hoists Adian up a little higher and gives him a quick kiss.

"Love you, mama," the little boy says with a smile.

"I love you too, baby." She kisses his nose and then swings him around so he's sitting comfortably on her hip, his arms immediately wrapping around her neck.

She takes another step closer to the bed and reaches out to run a hand through her husband's unruly hair. "Happy birthday, Grant." She leans down to give him a slow kiss, smiling against his lips. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Cake, mama!"

Skye pulls away and smiles over at her daughter. "Later, Ava-loo. We'll have cake after lunch."

Ava frowns, crossing her tiny arms over chest.

"No frowns, miss Ava-loo," Grant says playfully, pulling Ava down into his lap to tickle her. "We don't like frowns on little girls. Only smiles."

In an instant, Ava relents, her face breaking out into a smile as she laughs.

Skye smiles at the sight, sitting down on the edge of the bed and letting Adian crawl out of her lap to join his dad and sister in the tickle fest.

"As cute as this is," Skye says to her family after a few minutes, "I think it would probably be best if we got breakfast going before it gets too much later."

"Pancakes!" Adian and Ava shout together, bouncing excitedly on the mattress.

"We can have pancakes," Skye tells her children. "But you have to go let your dogs outside first so they can go potty and then fill up their food bowls so they can eat."

"Doggies!" Ava shouts with a wide smile before fumbling over the blankets as she slides off the bed.

"Ava! Wait!" Adian calls after his sister before climbing off the bed and running after her.

Shifting on the bed, Skye moves closer to her husband, a sly smile growing on her lips as she leans closer. "And now we're alone."

"Not for long, though," he reminds his wife. "They may still be pretty young, but I swear those two have some kind of magical twin ability that allows them to do things better and faster than kids their age should actually be able to do things."

Skye tilts her head. "I just like to chalk it up to us being really amazing parents."

Grant laughs quietly. "That definitely counts for something."

"It counts for everything." She closes the distance between them, sliding her lips gently over his. One of her hands sneaks underneath the hem of the t-shirt he's wearing, her fingertips brushing his abdomen, sending a small tremor through his skin that has him moaning, one of his hands coming up to rest on her waist.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

They pull apart and sigh simultaneously, just as Adian and Ava run back into the room, the family's two German Sheppard's, Max and Captain, trailing behind them.

"Doggies pottied," Ava states proudly, her hands resting on her hips in a posture that reminds Grant so much of his wife he can't help but to smile.

"Good to know," Skye says. "So how about we get started on breakfast, then. I think I remember something about pancakes..."

"Pancakes!"

Skye laughs. "Alright, you two go on out to the kitchen. Daddy and I will be there soon."

Adian immediately grabs onto his sister's hand and pulls her with him as he runs out of the room and toward the kitchen. Max and Captain run right after them, yipping after the twins as they go.

"So, do I have to make my own birthday pancakes today or..." Grant trails off when he sees the look his wife is giving him. "What?"

"Do you ever make your own birthday pancakes?" she asks him.

"No, I was just asking."

"Well don't." She leans forward to kiss him quickly. "Hurry up and get dressed before the kids get antsy." She stands from the bed and makes her way out to the kitchen, leaving Grant alone in their bed with a small smile on his face.

He'll never get tired of any of this. He's got a better life than he ever could have imagined he'd have what seems like a lifetime ago but was really just a few years.

Taking a deep breath in, he throws the covers off his body and stands from the bed, taking a moment to stretch out his arms and back. Having two four-year-old kids to constantly run after and take care is not easy on his body. But it's worth it to see their smiling faces every day.

Changing out of his pajamas and into some regular, around the house, clothes consisting of blue jeans and a black Henley, he shuffles out to the kitchen. He smiles at finding his wife at the stove flipping pancakes and his two kids sitting at the table coloring and chatting quietly to each other. Well, as quiet as four year olds can really be.

"Daddy!"

"Hey, Ava-loo," he says to his daughter with a smile, dropping a kiss to the top of her head and then to the top of Adian's. "What are you two working on?"

His daughter gasps and quickly covers her pictures with her arms. "Pictures for you. You can't look yet."

He holds his hands up as he steps away. "Okay, I won't look until you're ready for me to see." He chuckles quietly at the intense looks of concentration on their faces before moving over to his wife. "Whatever they're coloring for me must be very important."

"It's part of your birthday present," she tells him.

He nods and leans back against the counter. "Ah."

"Yeah." Skye silently flips a few more pancakes before checking on her batter to see how much of it is left. "Oh, I meant to tell you, the others are coming by later this afternoon for cake."

Grant groans. "Skye..."

"What, Grant? It's not like I could tell them not to come."

"That's exactly what you could have told them."

"They love you, Grant, and they want to celebrate you. Just like the kids and I want to do."

"I don't mind it from you and the kids, I really don't. But when everyone else starts getting involved...it just...I don't know how to explain it."

"It's fine, babe. Have you talked to Doctor Lang about it?"

He shrugs. "A few times. We don't really talk about my childhood that much anymore. It's more about the present and how I'm feeling on a daily basis about everything that goes on."

"That's good. But maybe at your next session you should try to figure out all these mixed-up feelings you have about your birthday."

He nods. "Yeah, maybe. But for right now," he takes a deep breath, pushing off the counter and stepping behind her, sliding his arms around her waist, "I just want to spend the morning with my three favorite people in the entire world." He presses a few slow kisses along her neck, starting right at her jawline.

Skye's eyes close briefly, before opening again. She sucks in a sharp breath at feeling the featherlight touches his hands are leaving on her skin. "Keep doing that and you'll spoil your present."

Grant freezes against her, his breath hot on her ear. "Skye."

"Grant. The pancakes are going to burn if you don't let me flip them."

Grant sighs and takes a small step back.

"I never said to let go," she says, checking on the nearly black pancakes.

Grant smiles and steps back to her, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder. Yeah, this really is better than he ever could have imagined.

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 **So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.**

 **Until next time,  
Jellybean96 out!**


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